World No1 Heavyweight kick boxer and Glory World Series Champion Rico Verhoeven this week gave kick-boxing enthusiasts the chance to gain insight into his workout regime at the HM Fitness Centre in Dubai.
Both amateur and professional fighters took part in the workshop that included training, exercises and timed drills along with a tutorial from Verhoeven himself.
Kick-Boxing is currently one of the fastest growing sport in the region, with an increasing eagerness among residents to participate and numerous local tournaments hosting local talent.
And Verhoeven, who at 24 became the youngest Glory World Champion in twenty years in 2013, believes that local gyms must build on the interest in the sport in the UAE by increasing the number of facilities that cater for kick-boxing.
“A number of good gyms is what’s really needed for this region to come up in kick-boxing, the HM Fitness Centre is already a good one, but you need about five or six gyms like these with some very good trainers who can guide fighters in the right direction," Verhoeven told Sport360°.
“They can then move forward to compete against each other so the boxers can build up from that, represent UAE and go to other countries to compete with them. Then you can see where the level is at and step ahead accordingly,” he added.
The workshop was not only attended by kick-boxing fans but also students of other disciplines eager to try their hand at the contact sport.
One of them was HM Fitness Centre’s very own Muay Thai coach Jason Woodhen who wanted to give kick-boxing a go and thoroughly enjoyed Verhoevens presence.
“The session was really good,” said Woodhen. “It was great having Rico here. Although I have been training for the past fifteen years, today I learnt something new as well.
“We got to concentrate a lot on technique which is good for both advanced professionals as well as beginners and we did a lot of range and footwork too so it was beneficial for everybody in training.”
The HM Fitness Centre, located in the Dubai Bowling Centre offers training in different disciplines and a host of other facilities complete with a Spa and sauna room to relax after a workout.
For more information and to keep updated with their seminars visit: https://www.facebook.com/HMFitnessCentre.
